Jun 21 2017
A Russian fighter flies within 2 meters a Swedish Air
Force spyplane, causing the Swedish minister of defence to condemn the
behaviour as “unacceptable”.
In what is just the latest in a long series of close
encounters over the Baltic Sea on Jun. 19, a Russian Su-27 Flanker flew
dangerously close to a Swedish Air Force S102B flying an intelligence
gathering mission over the Baltic Sea.
Most of times such intercepts, that have occurred in
international airspace for decades, are just routine stuff: the fighter in QRA
(Quick Reaction Alert) is launched to perform a VID (Visual IDentification) run
on the spyplane; the interceptor reaches the ELINT (Electronic Intelligence)
plane and follows it for a few minutes before returning to base.
However, according to the reports, the behaviour of the
Russian Su-27 Flankers scrambled to intercept the Swedish or US spyplanes over
the Baltic Sea off Kaliningrad Oblast is often a bit too aggressive and not
compliant with the international procedures that would recommend the
interceptor to keep a safe distance from the “zombie”: usually, 50 to 150
meters.
Indeed, according to the Swedish MoD, during the
intercept on Jun. 19, the Russian Flanker allegedly flew within 2 meters (!) of
the spyplane. Provided that was the distance between the two jets, the risk of
collision was pretty high.
The Swedish Air Force operates a pair of Gulfstream IVSP
aircraft, known in Swedish service as S102B Korpen, used for ELINT (Electronic
Intelligence) purposes. The aircraft, based on the American Gulfstream
business jet but equipped with eavesdropping sensors, routinely conduct
surveillance missions in the Baltic Sea.
One of the Swedish Air Force S102B Korpen aircraft
(credit: Johan Lundgren/Försvarsmakten)
According to Swedish Air Force officials, during those
sorties, the Korpens fly in international airspace, with their transponders
turned on, and regularly transmit their position to the relevant civilian air
traffic control agency, both domestic and, if needed, foreign ones.
Reports of barrel
rolls, aggressive
maneuvers, etc. involving Russian interceptors and NATO/allied aircraft (or
viceversa) have become a bit too frequent: there is a significant risk these
close encounters may one day end with a midair collision, with the consequences
that everyone can imagine.
Top image: file photo of a Su-27 over the
Baltic Sea as seen from a Portuguese P-3 Orion
H/T Erik Arnberg for the heads up!
Source theaviationist.com
Russian Fighter Sukhoi Su-27 intercepts P-3 Orion over
Baltic Sea
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